The U.S. corn and soybean harvest made some headway last week but is the slowest it’s been since 2009, according to USDA NASS’ latest Crop Progress report released Monday.

As of Sunday, 86% of corn was estimated as mature, 11 percentage points behind the five-year average of 97%. That was closer to the average pace than last week, when corn mature was running 19 percentage points behind average.

Nationwide, corn harvest progressed 8 percentage points to reach 30% as of Sunday, 17 percentage points behind the five-year average of 47% and further behind the average pace than the previous week when harvest was 14 percentage points behind the five-year average. The pace of this year’s corn harvest is the slowest since 2009 when 17% of corn was harvested as of Oct. 18, said DTN Lead Analyst Todd Hultman.

“The Dakotas and Wisconsin show harvest progress in the single digits,” Hultman noted.

The condition of corn still in fields was rated 56% good to excellent, up 1 percentage point from 55% the previous week.

The gap between the current percentage of soybeans dropping leaves and the five-year average continued to narrow last week, reaching 94% as of Sunday, just 3 percentage points behind the five-year average of 97%.

Soybean harvest also picked up speed last week, moving ahead 20 percentage points last week to reach 46% as of Sunday. That was still 18 percentage points behind the five-year average of 64%, but was an improvement from last Monday’s report, when harvest was running 23 percentage points behind average. As with corn, the pace of this year’s soybean harvest is the slowest since 2009 when 30% of the crop was harvested as of Oct. 18.

Soybean condition held steady at 54%.

Spring wheat harvest inched ahead another 2 percentage points to reach 96% as of Sunday, 4 percentage points behind the five-year average of 100% complete. The lack of progress was due to the northwestern U.S. Plains continuing to struggle with adverse weather, Hultman said.

In contract, winter wheat progress remained in line with the average pace last week. As of Sunday, 77% of winter wheat was planted, slightly ahead of the five-year average of 75%. Winter wheat emerged was estimated at 53%, equal to the five-year average.

Sorghum mature was estimated at 92%, ahead of the average of 89%. Sorghum harvested reached 49%, behind the five-year average of 53%.

Cotton bolls opening was estimated at 93%, ahead of the average of 89%. Cotton harvested was estimated at 40%, also ahead of the five-year average of 35%. Rice harvested was 93%, just slightly behind the average of 94%.

To view weekly crop progress reports issued by National Ag Statistics Service offices in individual states, visit http://www.nass.usda.gov/…. Look for the U.S. map in the “Find Data and Reports by” section and choose the state you wish to view in the drop-down menu. Then look for that state’s “Crop Progress & Condition” report.

National Crop Progress Summary
This Last Last 5-Year
Week Week Year Avg.
Corn Mature 86 73 99 97
Corn Harvested 30 22 48 47
Soybeans Dropping Leaves 94 85 98 97
Soybeans Harvested 46 26 51 64
Spring Wheat Harvested 96 94 100 100
Winter Wheat Planted 77 65 71 75
Winter Wheat Emerged 53 41 52 53
Cotton Bolls Opening 93 87 88 89
Cotton Harvested 40 32 38 35
Sorghum Mature 92 81 88 89
Sorghum Harvested 49 40 45 53
Rice Harvested 93 87 90 94

**

National Crop Condition Summary
(VP = Very Poor; P = Poor; F = Fair; G = Good; E = Excellent)
This Week Last Week Last Year
VP P F G E VP P F G E VP P F G E
Corn 4 10 30 45 11 4 11 30 44 11 4 8 20 48 20
Soybeans 4 10 32 45 9 4 10 32 45 9 3 8 23 48 18
Cotton 5 18 36 33 8 4 17 41 30 8 13 20 33 26 8
Sorghum 1 7 28 50 14 1 6 28 44 11 6 12 29 43 10

**

National Soil Moisture Condition – 48 States
(VS = Very Short; SH = Short; AD = Adequate; SR = Surplus)
This Week Last Week Last Year
VS SH AD SR VS SH AD SR VS SH AD SR
Topsoil Moisture 8 16 59 17 10 16 55 19 4 9 70 17
Subsoil Moisture 8 17 60 15 10 18 56 16 6 13 68 13

Anthony Greder can be reached at anthony.greder@dtn.com

Follow him on Twitter @AGrederDTN

Source: Anthony Greder, DTN